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{{Short description|American computer manufacturer (1980–1989)}}
{{About|the computer manufacturer|the Apollo spacecraft computer|Apollo Guidance Computer}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Apollo Computer Inc.
| logo = [[File:Apollo Computer logo.svg|frameless|class=skin-invert]]
| type = 
| industry = [[Apollo/Domain]] [[workstation]]s
| fate = Acquired by [[Hewlett-Packard]] in 1989
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = {{Start date and age|1980}}
| founder = [[William Poduska]]
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location_city = [[Chelmsford, Massachusetts]]
| hq_location_country = 
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people = 
| products = 
| owner = <!-- or: | owners = -->
| num_employees = 
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = 
| website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
'''Apollo Computer Inc.''' was an American technology corporation headquartered and founded in [[Chelmsford, Massachusetts]]. It was founded in 1980 by [[William Poduska]] (a founder of [[Prime Computer]]) and others. Apollo Computer developed and produced [[Apollo/Domain]] [[workstation]]s in the 1980s. Along with [[Symbolics]] and [[Sun Microsystems]], Apollo was one of the first vendors of [[graphical workstation]]s. Like other computer companies at the time, Apollo produced much of its own hardware and software.

Apollo was acquired by [[Hewlett-Packard]] in 1989 for US$476 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|476|1989}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}), and gradually closed down over the period of 1990–1997. The brand (as "HP Apollo") was resurrected in 2014 as part of HP's [[Supercomputer|high-performance computing]] portfolio.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2014/HPDiscover2014/HPApollo.pdf |title=HP Redefines HPC and Supercomputing Market with New Portfolio  |date=June 9, 2014 |publisher=Hewlett-Packard Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2014/HPDiscover2014/Apollo8000datasheet.pdf |title=Data sheet <nowiki>|</nowiki> HP Apollo 8000 System |date=June 2014 |publisher=Hewlett-Packard Company}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Dn330.jpg|right|frame|Apollo dn330 at Chelmsford, MA, c. 1985]]
Apollo was started in 1980, two years before rival [[Sun Microsystems]].<ref name="baran198902">{{Cite magazine |last=Baran |first=Nick |date=February 1989 |title=Two Worlds Converge |url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1989-02_OCR/page/n284/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-10-08 |magazine=BYTE |pages=229–233}}</ref> In addition to Poduska, the founders included Dave Nelson (engineering), Mike Greata (engineering), Charlie Spector (COO), Bob Antonuccio (manufacturing), Gerry Stanley (sales and marketing), and Dave Lubrano (finance).{{citation needed|date=January 2011}}  The founding engineering team included Mike Sporer, Bernie Stumpf, Russ Barbour, Paul Leach, and Andy Marcuvitz.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McLellan |first1=Vin |title=APOLLO IS LAUNCHED |url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_datamation_42495517/page/n47/ |access-date=12 June 2025 |work=Datamation |volume=26 |issue=11}}</ref>

Apollo was the first to release a standalone [[workstation]].{{r|baran198902}}<ref name="nicholls198902">{{Cite magazine |last=Nicholls |first=Bill |date=February 1989 |title=The Current Crop |url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1989-02_OCR/page/n290/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-10-08 |magazine=BYTE |pages=235–244}}</ref> In 1981, the company unveiled the [[Apollo DN100|DN100]] workstation, which used the [[Motorola 68000]] [[microprocessor]]. Apollo workstations ran [[Domain/OS#AEGIS|Aegis]] (later replaced by [[Domain/OS]]), a proprietary [[operating system]] with a [[Unix]] alternative [[Shell (computing)|shell]]. Apollo's networking was particularly elegant, among the first to allow [[demand paging]] over the network, and allowing a degree of [[network transparency]] and low [[sysadmin]]-to-machine ratio.

From 1980 to 1987, Apollo was the largest manufacturer of network workstations.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Its quarterly sales exceeded $100 million for the first time in late 1986,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=3Com and Apollo sign pact for net link gear |first=Mary |last=Petrovsky |date=27 October 1986 |newspaper=Network World |page=7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ex4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA7 |volume=3 |issue=34}}</ref> and by the end of that year, it had the largest worldwide share of the engineering workstations market, at twice the market share of the number two, [[Sun Microsystems]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Market overview |newspaper=[[InfoWorld]] |date=1 December 1986 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA29 |volume=8 |issue=48}}</ref> At the end of 1987, it was third in market share after [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] and Sun, but ahead of [[Hewlett-Packard]] and [[IBM]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Apollo's largest customers were [[Mentor Graphics]] (electronic design), [[General Motors]], [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], [[Chrysler]], Chicago Research and Trading (Options and Futures) and [[Boeing]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Apollo was acquired by [[Hewlett-Packard]] in 1989 for US$476 million,<ref>{{cite news | title=Hewlett-Packard to Buy Struggling Apollo Computer |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=13 April 1989|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-13-fi-1841-story.html |first=Carla |last=Lazzareschi |url-access=limited}}</ref> and gradually closed down over the period 1990-1997. But after acquiring Apollo Computer in 1989, HP integrated a lot of Apollo technology into their own [[HP 9000]] series of workstations and servers. The Apollo engineering center took over PA-RISC workstation development and Apollo became an HP workstation brand name (''HP Apollo 9000'') for a while. Apollo also invented the [[revision control]] system ''DSEE'' ([[Apollo Domain|Domain]] Software Engineering Environment)<ref>{{cite book| first=John A |last=McDermid |chapter=Integrated Project Support Environments | editor=Barbara A. Kitchenham|editor-link=Barbara Kitchenham |title=Software Engineering for Large Software Systems |publisher=Elsevier Science Publishers |year=1990 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sDczTOXm6aoC&pg=PA55 |page=55 |isbn=1-85166-504-8}}</ref> which inspired IBM [[IBM DevOps Code ClearCase]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Paul |last1=Adams |first2=Marvin |last2=Solomon |chapter=An overview of the CAPITL software development environment |editor=Jacky Estublier |title=Software configuration management: selected papers / ICSE SCM-4 and SCM-5 Workshops |date=18 October 1995 | publisher=Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg etc. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZsN5X3HCIoC&pg=PA25 |page=25 |isbn=3-540-60578-9}}</ref> DSEE was pronounced "dizzy".

Aegis, like [[Unix]], was based on concepts from the [[Multics]] [[time-sharing]] operating system.  It used the concepts of shell programming (à la [[Stephen Richard Bourne|Stephen Bourne]]), [[single-level store]], and [[object-oriented design]]. Aegis was written in a proprietary version of [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]].

The dual 68000 processor configuration was designed to provide automatic [[page fault]] switching, with the main processor executing the OS and program instructions, and the "fixer" processor satisfying the page faults. When a page fault was raised, the main CPU was halted in mid (memory) cycle while the fixer CPU would bring the page into memory and then allow the main CPU to continue, unaware of the page fault.<ref>{{Citation|title=Virtual memory using the MC68000 and the MC68451 MMU|url=http://marc.retronik.fr/motorola/68K/68000/DC001_Virtual_Memory_Using_The_MC68000_and_the_MC68451_MMU_[Motorola_1982_9p].pdf}}</ref> Later improvements in the [[Motorola 68010]] processor obviated the need for the dual-processor design.

Certain efficiencies were gained by careful design; for example, the memory page size, [[network packet]], and [[disk sector]] were all 1K byte in size. With this arrangement, a page fault could take place across the network as well as on the individual computer and Aegis [[file system]] was a single system of [[memory mapped file]]s across the entire network.  The namespace of the network was self discovering as new nodes (workstations) were added.

Domain/OS (Distributed On-line Multi-access Interactive Network/Operating System) was initially a layer over Aegis and was not built on a Unix [[Kernel (operating system)|kernel]]. Release 10 incorporated large parts of Unix but the burden of [[backwards compatibility]] with previous releases led to a system that was larger and significantly slower than the previous ones. In the end, Hewlett Packard shut down the Domain/OS line. Release 10 came out as competitors were gaining ground in the area of graphics and windowing systems, particularly with the trend to [[open system (computing)|open system]]s and the [[X Window System]].

Another feature was its proprietary [[Token passing|token ring]] network, which was originally designed to support relatively small networks of, at most, dozens of computers in an office environment.  It was a superb design, allowing [[direct memory access]] page faulting from any [[hard drive]] on the network, but it did not inter-operate with any other existing network hardware or software. The industry widely adopted [[Ethernet]] and [[TCP/IP]], a more universal, albeit much slower network. Apollo later added support for these industry standards while continuing to support its own Domain networking using both [[Ethernet]] and token ring. The Domain network routing was modeled after [[Xerox Network Systems]].

The company moved from a proprietary [[Bus (computing)|data bus]] architecture in favor of IBM's [[Industry Standard Architecture|AT-bus]], as used in the second generation of IBM PCs, and was simultaneously embracing [[RISC]] technology moving towards high-end processors, eventually producing the [[Apollo PRISM|PRISM]] line.

The workstation industry in general experienced hard times in the second half of the 1980s, as  [[IBM Personal Computer]]s and [[IBM PC compatible]]s began making inroads on their customer base.

Thomas Vanderslice was hired as President and CEO in 1984,<ref>{{Cite news
|publisher=Boston Globe
|date=August 3, 1984
|title=Vanderslice Named President of Apollo
}}</ref>
and founder William Poduska left the company in 1985 to found [[Stardent Inc.|Stellar]].<ref>{{Cite news
|publisher=Boston Globe
|date=November 15, 1985
|title=Poduska Will Leave Apollo To Start Firm
}}</ref>

The company incurred large losses in 1987 in currency speculation due to the trading activities of one individual,<ref>{{Cite news
|publisher=Boston Globe
|date=October 8, 1987
|title=Apollo Says It Underestimated Loss From Unauthorized Deal
}}</ref>
and in 1988 from declining demand for its products.<ref name="million">{{Cite news
|work=New York Times
|author=Markoff, John.
|title=Apollo's Troubles Stun Wall St.
|date=July 8, 1988
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/08/business/apollo-s-troubles-stun-wall-st.html
|url-access=limited
}}</ref>
In 1989, Apollo was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for US$476 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|476|1989}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{Cite news
|publisher=Boston Globe
|date=May 23, 1989
|title=HP Seeks To Reassure Apollo Workers
}}</ref> HP support for Apollo products was fragmented for the first few years, but was reorganized in late 1992, at which point there were still some 100,000 users of Apollo products and the user group InterWorks had some 4,500 members.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Maryfran |last=Johnson |title=Domain users OK latest HP support plan |newspaper=Computerworld |date=14 September 1992 |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kd79q0UEQc8C&pg=PA62 |volume=XXVI |issue=37}}</ref> Earlier that year, Sun had already offered discounts on its systems for customers trading in their Apollo machines;<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Maryfran |last=Johnson |title=Sun upgrade offer targets Apollo users |date=20 July 1992 |newspaper=Computerworld |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJswszKTwl4C&pg=PA8 |volume=XXVI |issue=29}}</ref> HP responded the next winter with a trade-in program of its own, that also allowed trading in hardware from Sun and other vendors in return for a discount on HP workstations.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Maryfran |last=Johnson |title=HP trade-in push |date=1 February 1993 |newspaper=Computerworld |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q3uWYPSLDrcC&pg=PA41|volume=27|issue=5}}</ref>

Apollo was gradually closed down over the period of 1990–1997.

==Models==
{| class="wikitable"
<caption align=top>''Apollo Computer models''</caption>
|-
! System Type!!Model!!CPU!!Speed (MHz)!!Display!!Release date!!Internal name
|-
| SAU1||DN416||2× [[Motorola 68000|68000]]||8||Portrait black & green|| ||
|-
| SAU1||DN100||2× 68000||8||Portrait BW|| ||
|-
| SAU1||DN400||2× 68000||8||Portrait BW|| ||
|-
| SAU1||DN600||2× 68000||8||Color|| ||
|-
| SAU1||DN420||2× 68000||8||Landscape BW|| ||
|-
| SAU2||DN300||[[Motorola 68010|68010]]||8||Landscape BW|| ||Swallow
|-
| SAU2||DN320||68010||8||Landscape BW|| ||Swallow
|-
| SAU2||DN330||[[Motorola 68020|68020]]||12||Landscape BW|| ||Swallow
|-
| SAU3||DSP80, DSP80A||68010||8||none|| ||Sparrow
|-
| SAU3||DSP90||68020||12||none|| ||Sparrow
|-
| SAU4||DN460||Custom [[AMD Am2900|2900]] bit slice||?||BW|| ||Tern
|-
| SAU4||DN660||Custom 2900 bit slice||?||Color|| ||Tern
|-
| SAU4||DSP160||Custom 2900 bit slice||?||none|| ||Tern
|-
| SAU5||DN550||68010||10||VME 600 Graphics|| ||Stingray
|-
| SAU5||DN560||68020||12||VME 600 Graphics|| ||Stingray
|-
| SAU5||DN570||68020||16||Ocelot Graphics Single Card 8 plane|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU5||DN580||68020||16||Aurora Graphics|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU5||DN590||68020||20||Aurora Graphics|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU6||DN560T||68020||12||Color|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU6||DN570T||68020||16||Color|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU6||DN580T||68020||16||Color|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU6||DN590T||68020||20||Color|| ||Banshee
|-
| SAU7||DN3500||[[Motorola 68030|68030]]||25||BW / Color|| ||Cougar II
|-
| SAU7||DN3550||68030||25||BW / Color|| ||
|-
| SAU7||DN4000||68020||25||BW / Color|| ||Mink
|-
| SAU7||DN4500||68030||33||BW / Color|| ||Roadrunner
|-
| SAU8||DN3000||68020||12||BW / Color|| ||Otter
|-
| SAU8||DN3010, DN3010A||68020||12||BW / Color|| ||
|-
| SAU8||DN3040||68020||12||BW / Color|| ||
|-
| SAU9||DN2500||68030||20||BW / Color|| ||Frodo
|-
| SAU10||DN10000||[[Apollo PRISM|PRISM]]||18||BW / Color|| ||AT
|-
| SAU11||9000/425S||[[Motorola 68040|68040]]||25|| || ||Trailways
|-
| SAU11||9000/425T||68040||25||HP DIOII|| ||Strider
|-
| SAU11||9000/425E||68040||25|| || ||Woody
|-
| SAU11||9000/433S||68040||33|| || ||Trailways
|-
| SAU11||9000/433T||68040||33|| || ||
|-
| SAU12||9000/400S||68030||50|| || ||Trailways
|-
| SAU12||9000/400T||68030||50|| || ||Strider
|-
| SAU12||9000/400DL||68030||50|| || ||
|-
| SAU14||DN5500||68040||25||BW / Color|| ||Leopard
|}

==See also==
*[[Apollo/Domain]]
*[[Apollo PRISM]]
*[[Atria Software]]
*[[Domain/OS]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

This article was partly based on material from the ''[[Free On-line Dictionary of Computing]]'' and is used with permission under the [[GFDL]].

==External links==
*[https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/tech68k/domain.html HP Domain Apollo Series]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060715082212/http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/~anno/papers/limits_autarky.html More on Sun vs. Apollo]
*[http://jim.rees.org/apollo-archive/ The Apollo Archive]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/19970330111439/http://www.zepa.net/cgi-bin/apollo-cpus.cgi Apollo CPUs table]

{{Hewlett Packard Enterprise}}
{{Hewlett-Packard}}

[[Category:Hewlett Packard Enterprise acquisitions]]
[[Category:Hewlett-Packard acquisitions]]
[[Category:1980 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1989 disestablishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1989 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1980]]
[[Category:American companies disestablished in 1989]]
[[Category:Companies based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Computer companies established in 1980]]
[[Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1989]]
[[Category:Computers using bit-slice designs]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies based in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]